A world of adventure just outside our doorstep
Part 2 of 2
Churchill
The train arrives at Churchill first thing in the morning, so you have the whole day to explore after you check into your hotel. There are several to choose from and even a B & B. You will want to book an excursion out into the Bay, whether on the Lazy Bear Expedition boat or, for the adventurous, a kayak trip among the whales in the Bay. Belugas are very curious and will play with the kayaks. If you go out on the big boat, you may even see polar bears in the water or one of the islands.
There is much more to see and do. One worthwhile visit in town is the Itsanitaq Museum which is filled with ancient carvings that depict life before the Europeans. It is smaller, but more authentic than the Winnipeg collection. There is also a gift shop here. There are several other good gift shops. My favourite is the Arctic Trading Company, but there is also one at the Lazy Bear Lodge and another next door.
You will inevitably visit the Town Centre built in 1976. It contains a health centre, an indoor sports plex, including gym, curling rink, and bowling alley, hockey arena as well as a pool and an indoor children’s playground. A feature is the big polar bear slide in the centre of the common space. There is an elementary to Grade 12 school, a theatre, a gallery and space for the municipal council.
You can take a dog sled ride even in summer, although this one is on wheels.
Don’t be in such a hurry to take in the BIG things that you overlook the plants and land animals. Some of the tundra excursions will take the time to show you the fascinating little fauna and flora highlights. There are also several other points of interest including a trip across the Bay to the 250-year-old Fort Prince of Wales which took 40 years to build and surrendered without a shot fired – a great place for the kids to get a firsthand look at history.
This just scratches the surface. When you finally get back on the train for the return journey to Thompson, you will be filled with wonder that all this is ours to enjoy.
Snow Lake
Tracing your way back from Thompson to Highway 39, go west. It’s a reasonable three and a half hours to Snow Lake, a tiny lakeside community of about 840 souls, but on the way, you get to pass by beautiful Wekusko Falls. You will want pictures.
The scenery is breathtaking all the way along – giant pines and tamaracks, wildflowers and glimpses of water.
Occasionally, you come across an inukshuk erected by some enterprising teenager.
Stop at Snow Lake for lunch. The motel isn’t much to look at, but the food is good, and you are a stone’s throw from the public dock where it is worth a quiet half hour contemplating the lake. Marvel at Main street – wide as Portage Avenue, but one way only!
Flin Flon
Then it’s on to Flin Flon, home of the iconic Flintabbatey Flonatin, just a couple of hours up the road. Flin Flon is a bustling town with a thriving arts community. Be sure to stop into the Flin Flon Arts Council gallery and, if you plan to spend the night, drop into Johnnie’s social Club next door to hear some of the finest music around.
See if you can get a local to give you a tour and show you the former red-light district or where the mine manager lived. You will want to visit the famed Flin Flon Forum, home to a long line of renowned NHL hockey players. Notice the boxed, above-ground sewer and water lines that couldn’t make it through the hard-rock, granite hills. You will marvel at the main mine shaft that dominates the town.
There is a good hotel in town, if you want to spend the night, and several excellent restaurants.
The twin town of Creighton is just across the Saskatchewan border – really, it is just one big community, with a combined population of about 8,000 when you put Creighton, Denare Beach and Flin Flon together.
You might have to tear yourself away from this fascinating little community, but The Pas awaits, just south on Highway 10, only an hour and a half away.
The Pas
The big surprise here is that this is a farming community, even though we generally think of The Pas as a treed wilderness with a logging operation. The Pas is almost on the same parallel as Edmonton and, thanks to the deposits of the Carrot River, which carries silt from the Rockies through Alberta and Saskatchewan, the rich alluvial soil is about 16 feet deep soil on which you can grow just about anything; the season is the same length as that of Portage La Prairie. But it is not just grain that does well here. World famous Black Angus cattle, famed for producing mouth-watering beef, don’t mind the sometimes-wet conditions and thrive here.
The Pas is also a Ducks Unlimited mecca.
Nearby, just 15 minutes away, is Clearwater Lake, one of the clearest lakes in North – you can see the bottom at 35 feet deep (11.9 metres) – and it is teeming with fish! You will want to visit the mysterious moss-lined caves while you are there.
The Pas is also the home of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation which operates a hotel and shopping mall across the river.